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I just got a new 38 gallon tank and my plan right now is this:

8 black neons
8 cories (paleatus or panda)
probably a couple of platy fry from my other tank eventually


I want to put a pair of some kind of slightly larger fish in this tank but I'm not sure what to do. A couple of ideas I had were dwarf gouramis, honey gouramis, rams...I'm open to other ideas as well. Oh and I also am considering rescuing a male betta from a cup instead of a pair of other fish. What would you recommend?

What would be a good algae eater for this tank? My gf wants to put snails in (do snails care if the tank is cycled?). I would think a siamese algae eater would get a little big for this tank. Are there any smaller plecos that would work? I guess I could get otos but I've never had them and have heard they can be a little difficult to keep alive.

A male betta would probably work in that setup, only issue I can see would be personality. It MAY work. Try to find a less aggressive betta when you pick one out at the store. I've had bettas that couldn't care less that there was other fish in the tank, and ones that would chase the other fish endlessly.

Also, you could try setting up a few female bettas. Again, personality comes into play, but I've been pretty lucky with my girls... Since starting my 20 gallon a few years ago, I've always had a few betta girls and rarely have had problems with aggression.

I'm planning on a gourami as centerpiece fish for my new 55 gallon tank... Maybe a pair would work. Make sure you get a pair, and not two males. I think generally the males have a more pointed dorsil fin, in comparison to the more round fin of the females. Don't put both the gourami and the betta in the same tank, likely the betta will think the gourami's feelers look like a tempting treat.

Otos are great and adorable, but yes, they can be difficult to keep and should be one of the last fish put into a tank. They really do need a good, settled tank and a steady supply of algae. I have a bristlenose pleco that is doing well, also clown plecos are about the same size... around 4" when full grown. I don't know about the algae eating capabilities of the clown pleco, but the BN is a decent eater.

Be cautious with the panda cories, find some good sized ones and hope for the best. A lot of the pandas I've seen around here are hardly more than fry and aren't terribly hardy. I lost quite a few before finding some full-sized pandas that have been very hardy.

Good luck!

~Meow. Thus spoke the cat.~

I think a pair of rams or appistos would fit in nice.
For algae eater I would say a BN or a group of 4-5 ottos. As long as they are from a good source they should be ok, if added at the end. So far I have had 4 ottos and still have 3 and the one that died lasted 2 months and died of natural causes.

-Vincent

keeping with my basic plan, how many black neons and cories could I put in there?

to be on the safe side, I'd say probably around 12 of each, if you only have the black neons and cories, always better to understock than overstock.

as for the snails, they actually care about tank cycling more than fish! all crustaceans are extremely sensitive to water chemistry. as for a good algae eater, I'd recommend a clown pleco, they stay small, and they are very good at eating algae. other than that, believe it or not, if you can find flag-fish, they work well, they are a very good algae eater, and a little different from the normal pleco-type algae eaters. snails work well too, just be careful to wait till the tank is really cycled to put them in.

proud father of a bunch of baby haps. http://picasaweb.google.com/Sktchy/BABIES